The Listings: Aug. 26 -- Sept. 1; CHARLIE PARKER JAZZ FESTIVAL

By NATE CHINEN

Published: August 26, 2005

The death of Charlie Parker, above, a half-century ago closed the book on an outsized jazz talent. But in the months and years that followed, new footnotes kept cropping up, as a generation of musicians strove to emulate both his dazzling saxophone heroics and his gargantuan narcotic habit. Fifty years of hindsight have reaffirmed the singularity of Parker's genius; this summer, Uptown Records released a newly discovered live recording, ''Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945,'' that added luster to an already luminous discography. Musicians have long been aware of the futility of the task; today's jazz mainstream is bebop-tinged but rarely Parker-shaped, so that even the 13th annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival shows no trace of simulacra. The lineup tomorrow at Marcus Garvey Park includes two alto saxophonists who have each absorbed Parker's style into his own: Bobby Watson, a commanding soloist schooled in hard bop; and Soweto Kinch, a bracing young player who also draws on myriad contemporary sources. The concert Sunday in the East Village features an excellent post-bop piano trio fronted by Geri Allen; a probing quartet led by the powerhouse drummer Cindy Blackman; and a group led by the pianist John Hicks and featuring the tenor saxophonist David (Fathead) Newman, who studied with Parker's mentor but mainly eschews bebop for rhythm and blues. Both concerts will feature Odean Pope's Saxophone Choir, an audacious assemblage of nine saxophones plus a rhythm section. The group's aesthetic connection to Parker is circuitous but deeply inscribed. (Tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Marcus Garvey Park, between Mount Morris Park West and Madison Avenue, from 120th to 124th Streets, Harlem, free. Sunday at 3 p.m. at Tompkins Square Park, between Avenues A and B, from Seventh to 10th Streets, East Village, free.) NATE CHINEN